A. L. Jewett

Biography

A. L. Jewett was born at North Dixmont, Maine, in 1872. After public and high school he moved to Boston in 1891 to take a full course at Boston Business College, followed by six years in a commercial career. In 1897 he joined the Briggs Piano Company as a traveling salesman, rising to an executive role and being elected treasurer and general manager in 1906. Seeking a larger field, he organized the National Piano Company in July 1910 by merging the Briggs Piano Company with the Merrill Piano Company, later adding the Norris and Hyde Piano Company, combining three well-known Boston piano concerns. In 1911 he began manufacturing a novel player-piano action featuring a seamless metal shell for each individual valve, described as a progressive innovation. The text presents him as one of the rising men of his generation in the piano trade, predicting continued growth for the National Piano Company under his management.

Highlights

• Organized the National Piano Company in July 1910 by merging the Briggs Piano Company, Merrill Piano Company, and later Norris and Hyde Piano Company
• Joined Briggs Piano Company in 1897 as a traveling salesman, becoming treasurer and general manager by 1906
• In 1911 began manufacturing a novel player-piano action with a seamless metal shell for each valve

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 161, 162.

Public domain.